Today, consumers are offered a variety of technologies for accessing the Internet, such as digital subscriber lines (DSL), cable, analog dial-up connections, integrated services digital network, etc. Typically, these technologies depend upon architectures which use multiple components and networks to access the Internet. For example, with DSL, a consumer connects to the Internet via a DSL modem, a DSL loop, an ATM access network, and a gateway device.
Current technologies for accessing the Internet often suffer from a variety of performance problems, including slow response, intermittent connections, and lost data. These performance problems are difficult to diagnose. Conventionally, these performance problems are diagnosed using tools and tests that measure a single parameter or analyze a single component. For example, a “ping” test is a common test used to diagnose network problems. In a ping test, a packet of data such as an Internet Protocol (“IP”) packet is sent from a source to a specified IP address. A network device at the specified IP address then returns the IP packet to the source to indicate that it was successfully received. Hence, a ping test is typically used to determine whether a network can transport an IP packet.
Unfortunately, conventional tests, such as the ping test, do not provide all of the information needed to fully diagnose a performance problem. For example, a ping test only provides information related to IP communications in a network. A ping test does not provide information related to DSL or ATM performance of a network. In order to diagnose the DSL and ATM performance of a network, a user or technician is required to perform tests specifically designed for this purpose. Thus, the root cause of a performance problem may not be discovered until after conducting numerous tests over a period of time.
It is therefore desired to provide methods and apparatus that overcome the above and other shortcomings of the prior art.